Physical & Digital EST: The Future of Home Video Discussion Thread

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Do you have evidence that says my post was not correct?

I don't question the specs - just the content. Tubi is home to rarely seen content. And of course that is subjective to the user.

IMO - being able to see the content offsets the quality. Remember that 720P is still considered HD.

Best of all . . . . IT"S FREE!!

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by PenguinInfinity

That's not true. People won't be losing money but everyone will be losing access to movies and TV shows that are exclusively available on streaming services. Personally I think that's much worse.

Streaming subscriptions put a time limit on how long each movie and TV show is available. They turn everything into disposable entertainment and don't give anyone the ability to ensure that the movies and TV shows they love remain available.

It's the death of preservation of the arts.

I get why you are jumping to that conclusion but I don't agree with you on it.

Not to pick on any one company but Netflix pays AMazon to serve the movies and content belongs to studios. The only thing they truly own is the Netflix original programing they paid for and own (that does not apply to all all NOP).

If/when Netflix shuts down that will be the only thing of value I am sure it will be sold to an other company. Let me put it this way, when you watch Wizard of Oz It says MGM but it is now owned by WB because the content was sold to WD

Even if the library is not sold it is still not the end of the world. All creative content due to copywrite acts around the world sooner or later falls into public domain. Obviously that is not a fast solution but it does mean that it is not necessarily completely lost (as you said)

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Just a curious post, how many here visit (linked):

• AVS
• The Digital Bits
• DVD talk
• High-Def Digest
• Hollywood in Hi-Def
• Home Theater Forum
• Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity
• Sound and Vision
• Media Play News
• Wide Screen Review

I used to be on AVs but have not been back there since a bit before I joined this place (format war really made it an unpleasant place to be and there was too much marketing BS)


I also visit two Canadian AV related sites

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by bhampton

But, there has to be negotiation and sometimes negations fail.

yes but depends what we are talking about.

If Netflix shuts down, it is almost guaranteed that anything of value (i.e. content) will be sold.

If Amazon continues but shut down Amazon prime then it is slightly more possible that they will look fore a better offer and negotiations will brake down. But don't forget holding on to content that brings in zero revenue is not the smartest of business decision.

but even if the content is split up or shows up on an other service it does not mean the person will be subscribed to that other service.

Now if we are talking purchased content instead of rental the other issue is that if it goes to an other service company then there is nothing forcing the new provider to offer it to you for free.

or sometimes a finished product is simply canned in favor of a tax break.

I heard this happened to a BatGirl movie.

Quoted - "The film had been shot. Postproduction was almost complete. And then… Warner Bros. Discovery pulled the plug, canning the $90 million production and shelving Batgirl without a theatrical release. There’s no chance of it streaming online, either."


-Brian

now you are talking about something else. No matter how much money was wasted on Batgirl it never became content you saw. The only reason it is known is because it became public knowledge how close to the end it reached. But IMHO if the studio saw the final product and said there is no way to fix it and take the loss as is instead of spending more on advertisement. and decided to write it off then do I really want to potentially waste my time seeing it *


* don't get me wrong I have very bizarre tastes and so if you want to argue that I (or some others) will find it the best thing ever I won't argue it can't be the case.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by PenguinInfinity

Only the popular titles. Plenty of unpopular titles will disappear completely because no streaming service will be interested in paying to license them out. Anything deemed offensive could be removed at any time as well and be completely unavailable to everyone.

Once someone owns a disc it's theirs forever. They don't have to rely on continued popularity and social acceptance to ensure that they can keep watching the movies and TV shows they love.

agree with what you said, but that does not have anything to do with your previous post or the discussion at hand. Netflix has not closed down but last year (sorry it is in French) https://www.ledevoir.com/culture/ecr...e-faire-reagir they dropped one episode of "Filles de Caleb" because of PC sensibilities.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Not True, Penguin what have you been drinking, even though Wendell says Digital is different it's not. Yes there are different Formats but they all come from one Master. If one Streaming Provider can't support their Content, then there are others that can. Amazon Prime has most people's Collection, so if they can't support it no one can....But I'm sure they can!

yes it all starts off from one master but none of us have access to that master. So you bringing it up as if it matters just makes you look foolish

If I watch a film on UHD BD instead of a DVD it looks much better even if the master was the same and if Netflix decides to chop off one episode of "Les Filles de Caleb" (which they did) that does not magically get removed from the DVDs people bought 15 years ago.

[PenguinInfinity]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

If Netflix shuts down, it is almost guaranteed that anything of value (i.e. content) will be sold.

That's the important part: "anything of value". There will undoubtedly be movies and TV shows that a small number of people love but no other streaming service will think they are worth buying. Popular titles will continue to be available on other services but unpopular titles will be lost.

[PenguinInfinity]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

Even if the library is not sold it is still not the end of the world. All creative content due to copywrite acts around the world sooner or later falls into public domain. Obviously that is not a fast solution but it does mean that it is not necessarily completely lost (as you said)

Current copyright law takes 125 years before movies are in the public domain. At that point they don't magically appear everywhere it simply becomes legal for people to freely share them. Since it takes so long there will undoubtedly be movies that are lost because no one who cares about sharing them will have access to a copy to share by the time they are in the public domain.

[veritas]

Originally Posted by PenguinInfinity

Current copyright law takes 125 years before movies are in the public domain. At that point they don't magically appear everywhere it simply becomes legal for people to freely share them. Since it takes so long there will undoubtedly be movies that are lost because no one who cares about sharing them will have access to a copy to share by the time they are in the public domain.

Ya copyright laws are the problem not so much steaming services going out of business. When snow white enters the public domain its not like you could make a copy of the dvd or blu ray at that point and not be breaking the law. You would need to hunt down a film reel from 1937 digitize it, remaster the colors and then remaster it yourself to fix over 100 years worth of wear and tear. Even later films one hundred years from now that do have dvds your going to need to find a copy that doesnt have drm because even without a copyright you still cant legally break drm due to the digital millennium copyrights act.


I just cant see much of any films ever making it to the public domain in half decent quality. The wait is just to long and things just age to much after that much time. A book after 120 years can be copied basically perfectly but film doesn't stand a chance.

[Edward R. Meow]

Originally Posted by veritas

Ya copyright laws are the problem not so much steaming services going out of business. When snow white enters the public domain its not like you could make a copy of the dvd or blu ray at that point and not be breaking the law. You would need to hunt down a film reel from 1937 digitize it, remaster the colors and then remaster it yourself to fix over 100 years worth of wear and tear. Even later films one hundred years from now that do have dvds your going to need to find a copy that doesnt have drm because even without a copyright you still cant legally break drm due to the digital millennium copyrights act.


I just cant see much of any films ever making it to the public domain in half decent quality. The wait is just to long and things just age to much after that much time. A book after 120 years can be copied basically perfectly but film doesn't stand a chance.

A good example of this is Paramount's film The Alamo

In 2014, an Internet campaign was formed urging MGM to restore The Alamo from the deteriorating 70mm elements. This garnered some publicity from KENS-TV in San Antonio, and attention from filmmakers such as J. J. Abrams, Matt Reeves, Rian Johnson, Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón, and Alejandro González Iñárritu. In his 2014 biography of Wayne, John Wayne: The Life and Legend author Scott Eyman states that the full-length Toronto print has deteriorated to the point where it is now unusable.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Al...rnate_versions

Had the film entered the public domain sooner, the directors in question may have been able to help fund a restoration effort to salvage it. However, Paramount was uninterested in doing so, and with the copyright on the film still in effect, an HD master has likely become impossible.

Current copyright laws could certainly stand to be reigned in a good amount. 50 to 60 years would probably be a good standard.

[veritas]

Originally Posted by Edward R. Meow

A good example of this is Paramount's film The Alamo



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Al...rnate_versions

Had the film entered the public domain sooner, the directors in question may have been able to help fund a restoration effort to salvage it. However, Paramount was uninterested in doing so, and with the copyright on the film still in effect, an HD master has likely become impossible.

Current copyright laws could certainly stand to be reigned in a good amount. 50 to 60 years would probably be a good standard.

Another good example would be when a show is written off as a tax write off. currently warner bros just wrote off a bunch of animation which means they can no longer show it but due to copyrights nobody else can either. Those shows are in purgatory for a hundred years at this point due to copyright with nobody able to use the show at all.

At a minimum anytime a show is written off a companies taxes it should go straight to public domain.